Friday, March 30, 2012

Montage #49 - Serene Beethoven / Beethoven serein

As of May 4, 2012, this montage will no longer be available on Pod-O-Matic. It can be heard or downloaded from the Internet Archive at the following address / A compter du 4 mai 2012, ce montage ne sera plus disponible en baladodiffusion Pod-O-Matic. Il peut être téléchargé ou entendu au site Internet Archive à l'adresse suivante:

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony is central to our montage this week - not only because it is one of two major works featured today, but also because it allows us to consider music that is peaceful and serene coming from Beethoven's catalog of works.

Beethoven, legend says, used to make sure every cup of coffee he drank contained 60 beans' worth. The picture I embedded in the French commentary is likely closer to Beethoven in his cafeinated state than the composer of the works we will hear today. Beethoven was a bit of a temperamental fellow, as more than one of his cleaning ladies will attest, I am sure!

His piano sonata no. 15 probably goit his nickname (as most of his nicknamed works did) through his publishers, and not necessarily through Neethoven himself.. The calm and serene opening and closing movements have little to do with the impetuous nature of the music found sandwiched between them... For today's montagem I chose the first movemnent - here is Daniel Barenboim in a live performance of the complete sonata:

The last two works were featured in the first half of the 22 December 1808 concert. The fourth piano concerto has a unique opening - featuring the solo piano until the first theme has been exposed, and only then it is accompanied by the orchestra. Keeping with the peaceful theme, the opening two movements show amazing restraint, and Beethoven lets go in the rondo finale, though he does not turn the movement into a show of force - as he does, say, in the Emperor concerto.

I have a confession to make - though I believe I made it already in an earlier post. I have a sentimental favourite when it comes to renderings of the Pastoral symphony - I am a huge fan of the late 70's recording by Michael Tilson-Thomas and the English Chamber Orchestra. As most of us old enough to remember will attest, attempting Beethoven with a less-than-romantic sized orchestra in those days had its share of risks, as the marketplace had made us accustomed to the muscular sound of the large orchestras. MTT's recording made me discover so many subtleties to the symphony hitherto masked by the power of large orchestras that I was immediately convinced it was meant to be played that way.

Where the "authentic" movement failed to provide me an alternate version by a small ensemble, Mr. Haitink and the Del Mar 1997 edition came along and achieved that intimacy MTT had conveyed 25 or 30 years earlier.